Life cycle assessment of foam concrete incorporating quarry microfines and sugarcane bagasse ash for low-carbon construction
Author Identifier (ORCID)
Abstract
Life cycle assessment of lightweight foam concrete, incorporated with quarry microfines (QMF), sugarcane bagasse ash (SCBA) and polypropylene (PP) fibres to assess its environmental impact is presented in this study. Three mixes, namely Control (0% QMF, 0% SCBA, 0% PP), FC 50 (50% QMF, 10% SCBA, 0.4% PP) and FC 100 (100% QMF, 10% SCBA, 0.4% PP) were analysed. The ReCiPe 2016 midpoint (H) and Cumulative Energy Demand (CED) approaches were used to quantify the impacts across six environmental categories: global warming potential (GWP), Cumulative Energy Demand (CED), Acidification Potential (AP), Eutrophication Potential (EP), Particulate Matter Formation (PMF) and Fossil Resource Scarcity (FRS). The analysis showed that replacing 10% of cement with SCBA along with 50% and 100% of fine aggregates with QMF resulted in GWP reductions of 13.2% and 19.2%, respectively, compared to the control mix. Other categories like AP (15–23%), PMF (15–22%), EP (7–10%) and FRS (7–25%) showed similar reductions. CED reduced to 17.8%, predominantly due to reduced clinker usage. This study supports Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 9, 12 and 13 by incorporating industrial and agricultural by-products into foam concrete by improving resource efficiency, encouraging waste valorisation and reducing climate-related effects in the construction industry. These findings demonstrate the feasibility of developing environmentally optimised foam concrete mixes without compromising functional performance.
Keywords
foam concrete, life cycle assessment (LCA), low-carbon construction, quarry microfines (QMF), sugarcane bagasse ash (SCBA)
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of Publication
1-1-2026
ISSN
09441344
Publication Title
Environmental Science and Pollution Research
Publisher
Springer
School
School of Engineering
Copyright
subscription content
Content Type
Metadata only
Recommended Citation
Thangavel, R., Shukla, S. K., & Madhavan, M. K. (2026). Life cycle assessment of foam concrete incorporating quarry microfines and sugarcane bagasse ash for low-carbon construction. Environmental Science and Pollution Research. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-026-38006-1